Sean Dyche not impressed by Ellis Simms at Everton as £8m Coventry City deal confirmed – Sky Sports pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Kevin Campbell isn’t surprised that Everton chose to sell Ellis Simms because Sean Dyche clearly wasn’t impressed enough to keep him.
The 22-year-old striker was brought back from loan at Sunderland in January last season when Frank Lampard was manager, but got game time under his successor and scored a first senior goal to snatch a point at Chelsea on 18 March.
But that was the only strike he managed and despite Dyche badly needing to add attacking options rather than lose them Campbell feels it is clear that the manager didn’t think Simms was his sort of player so the money was worth more to him during the window.
“No, not surprised,” the Sky Sports pundit exclusively told Goodison News in reaction to the deal.
“Sean Dyche will obviously have his own thoughts about the player and the player obviously didn’t impress enough for the manager in the time he was there.
“Maybe the manager knows what he wants and Ellis Simms isn’t it if they’re selling him.”
One goal is hardly anything to write home about, but he managed that in his first senior run in the Everton first team from just over 200 minutes action from 11 appearances, whereas Neal Maupay featured for more than six times that amount over 29 outings and only scored once himself.
Of the two most fans would have preferred to see the Frenchman, signed from Brighton a year ago and clearly not suited to the way Lampard or Dyche wanted to play, go rather than a homegrown youngster.
But the deal has been done and while it is only an £8million fee [Fabrizio Romano, 6 July] it has given the manager a small boost to the budget so attentions will have to turn to who is going to finally come in as a replacement.
In other Everton news, a substitute forward is “interested” in a move to Goodison this summer and isn’t expected to be expensive to land.